Nazita Lajevardi
Expert
Nazita Lajevardi is a political scientist and attorney working primarily in race, ethnic politics, and American politics. Dr. Lajevardi’s research lies at the intersection of religion, race, ethnic politics, representation, and discrimination. Broadly, she examines one overarching question: How do racial minorities fare under American democracy? She approaches this question from two perspectives: (1) from the perspective of minorities themselves and (2) how the public treats them (e.g., how legislators treat them, how the public views them, and how the media discusses, frames, and communicates about them). A significant portion of Dr. Lajevardi’s scholarship focuses specifically on Muslim Americans, as a racialized religious minority. She examines the treatment of Muslim Americans from a myriad of perspectives, attempting to overcome numerous measurement obstacles.
Education
BA, University of California, Los Angeles; JD, University of San Francisco School of Law; PhD, University of California, San Diego
Areas of Expertise
- American politics
- Political behavior
- Race and ethnic politics
- Law
Publications
William Hobbs and Nazita Lajevardi. “Effects of Divisive Political Campaigns on the Day-to-Day Segregation of Arab and Muslim Americans.” American Political Science Review. (Firstview).
Nazita Lajevardi and Marisa A. Abrajano. “How Negative Sentiment towards Muslim Americans Predicts Support for Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election.” The Journal of Politics. (Ahead of print).
Nazita Lajevardi. “Access Denied: Exploring Muslim American Representation and Exclusion by State Legislators.” Politics, Groups, and Identities (2018): 1–29.
Karam Dana, Nazita Lajevardi, Kassra AR Oskooii, and Hannah Walker. “Veiled Politics: Experiences with Discrimination among Muslim Americans.” Politics and Religion (2018): 1–49.
Nazita Lajevardi and Kassra AR Oskooii. “Old-Fashioned Racism, Modern Racism, and the Isolation of Muslim Americans in the Age of Trump.” Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics (2018): 1–41.
Kassra AR Oskooii, Loren Collingwood, and Nazita Lajevardi. “A Change of Heart? Why Individual-Level Public Opinion Shifted against Trump’s Muslim Ban.” Political Behavior (2017): 1–38.
Brian Calfano, Nazita Lajevardi, and Melissa Michelson. “Trumped Up Challenges: Limitations, Opportunities, and the Future of Political Research on Muslim Americans.” Politics, Groups, and Identities (2017): 1–11.